Interest in Running for Local Offices Appears to be low…
Things are shaping up to offer Florence voters little or no choice at the polls in November. With just a week until the filing deadline for the open mayor’s position and two council seats there is only one official candidate. Current council president Nola Xavier has completed the necessary paperwork to run for Mayor, but so far there are no filed candidates for her current position, or the one now held by Paul Holman. Joshua Greene, has publicly expressed interest but not yet submitted the required nominating petition. Florence City Recorder Kelli Weese says the ultimate deadline for submitting completed paperwork and verified signatures is next Thursday, August 16th.
The situation in Dunes City is similar with one candidate for mayor. Rebecca Ruede is seeking voter approval for the post to which she was appointed 16 months ago. Seeking re-election are Jaime Mills and Ed Scarberry; Councilor Richard Koehler has not expressed his intentions, but former Florence Police Chief Maury Sanders has thrown his hat into the race. There was a fourth council candidate briefly, but Ronald Tucker subsequently withdrew. Dunes City Recorder Fred Hilden says the ultimate deadline for verified nominating petitions is August 28th.
Fire will likely impact fuel prices
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded went up a nickel in Florence this past week… it’s now at $3.60… 21 cents higher than it was just four weeks ago and seven cents less than Oregon’s statewide average price. Marie Dodds with Triple-A of Oregon says drivers in the west could see prices breach the four-dollar mark once again over the next few weeks. That’s because of a fire at a major refinery near San Francisco. The Richmond, California plant processes nearly a quarter-million gallons of crude oil each day, producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. It’s not known yet what amount of damage was incurred in the fire, but industry analysts expect that the refinery could be off-line for some time, further restricting supplies of motor fuel on the west coast.
Council changes schedule
City Councilors in Florence wrapped up work after just over three hours of deliberations Monday evening. But one thing they decided on was to start their next meeting, August 20th, an hour early. Because of holidays and schedule conflicts they’ll also shift the regular September and October meetings from the 1st and 3rd Mondays to the 2nd and 4th.
Vote for Murph!
Jean Murphey isn’t running for office, but she still wants you to vote for her. She is trying to land a chunk of change for the Boys and Girls Club. Murphey and Coast Insurance Services have already been awarded a $2,000 grant from Safeco Insurance as part of the “Make More Happen Awards”. Coast Insurance was named a finalist in the program because of employees’ efforts on the Fraudeville fundraiser they put together in February. Now people are encouraged to go online and vote for Coast Insurance at a special website set up by Safeco. Vote here.
